The Vessel
by Miss. E. Thompson
Summary: What if Lucifer had more than one vessel? Sam was only Lucifer's vessel for the final showdown because he was Dean's brothers. What if someone else was Lucifer's vessel and didn't need the demon blood to be able to survive? I do not own anything to do with Supernatural or Twilight.
1. Part 1

Bella was closing up the bar when she could feel eyes watching her. She looked around, slightly relieved when she didn't see anyone, but she knew that didn't mean anything. She knew better than to think there was no one there just because she didn't see someone. Being with Edward had taught her that much. That bastard had taken so much from her and left her in this hell hole of a life with knowledge she wasn't supposed to have. She had thought a time or two of going to the Volturi, the Italian vampire kings that he'd told her about. She couldn't make them pay for what they'd done, but they could. She never went through with the plan though, knowing the minute she made the decision Alice would see it and stop her, only to leave again and she would be right back where she started all over again.

Bella took one more glance around and sighed before starting toward the back alley where she'd parked her car before her shift. She was almost to the car when a man appeared in front of her. Bella jumped back, a gasp escaped her as her hand came up to cover her heart. The man smiled, his eyes raking over her body.

"What do you want?" Bella asked as she recovered slightly from her scare, not letting fear seep into her voice. The man tilted his head slightly as he studied her.

"No, 'who are you' or 'where'd you come from'?" The man asked, an air of humor in his voice as he stared at her. Bella stared back at him. There was only one light in the alley, far away at the entrance, providing very little light on their conversation, but Bella could make out the man's light colored hair and the blotches that covered his temples.

"No, because I don't care what your name is and how you got here isn't important. What do you want?" Bella demanded again, straightening her back as she crossed her arms over her chest. A grin crossed the man's face as he took a step closer.

"This is not about what I want, dear Bella. This is about destiny." Bella stared at the man. He was obviously unhinged if he thought she was going to believe that.

"We've all got one, given to us by God. It just happens that yours and mine intertwine." The man circled Bella as he spoke. Bella shifted to follow him with her eyes.

"You're going to kill me? Is that what you're trying to tell me?" Bella asked with a small sardonic smile. The man tilted his head again.

"No, my dear. You serve a much greater purpose. You see there is a war going on around us, most of you humans just don't even realize it." Bella cocked an eyebrow.

"A war? What kind of war?"

"A war between heaven and hell, I believe you humans and your bible call it the apocalypse." Bella scoffed.

"The apocalypse? Drought, famine, disease, fire, total death, apocalypse?" The man grinned as he looked at her.

"Yes, as a result of a scuffle between my brother and I."

"You and your brother started the apocalypse?" Bella asked mockingly.

"No, that title belongs to a pair of mud monkeys, the Winchesters. I, my dear, am Lucifer." Bella's stomach dropped at the name. This psycho thought he was Lucifer? That he was going to end human kind?

"Well what does 'Lucifer' need with a mere human like myself?" Bella asked sarcastically.

"Nothing much. As you can see, my vessel is running a little thin." Lucifer gestured to the painful looking blotches on his face.

"I just need you to say 'yes' to allowing me to use you till my battle vessel is ready." Bella laughed and shook her head as she walked passed Lucifer toward her car.

"Yeah, sure." Bella said sarcastically, not really meaning it, but that was enough. She had only made it a couple steps before she heard something flesh hit the ground behind her. She turned around to see the body Lucifer had occupied laying on the ground, pale and dead. She screamed and turned to run, but before she could take a step she could see a black smoke in her face and she could feel something taking over her body as she choked on the smoke. It was like a cage building itself in her brain and locking her inside. Bella struggled, fighting to control her body, but failing.

"Thank you dear, much better." She heard herself say. Bella fought and fought, but nothing was working, she was trapped inside herself. She had actually let the devil inside her.

"It's no use to struggle, dear. This is only temporary."

Bella gave up fighting and took to watching what was going on, trying to understand. Someone had sent a message to a demon who had gotten the message to Lucifer. Now she stood outside the Elysian Fields Hotel.

'Looks like a really fancy place to be out in the middle of nowhere.' Bella mused. It did no good, no one but Lucifer could hear her and most of the time he merely ignored her and her commentary. Inside was just as fancy as the outside. She walked up to the desk, ringing the bell to make a mousy looking man turn around. He looked slightly scared as he eyed her.

"Checking in."

"Lucifer, thanks for coming." The man said swallowing hard.

"Oh, you did good calling me."

"It's just… The way the talk is heading in there, it's… it's insane!"

"You know, I never understood you pagans, always fighting, always happy to sell out your own kind. No wonder you forfeited this planet to us. You are worse than humans. You're worse than demons. And yet you claim to be Gods." She held up her hand and moved it in a twisting motion. The pagan's neck snapped, killing him before he hit the floor.

"And you call me prideful." Lucifer commented before moving away from the front desk and down a hallway. The lights flicker as Lucifer walked through the hotel, announcing his presence to the rest of the pagans gathered around the ballroom with Gabriel and the Winchesters.

Lucifer came around a corner, getting closer to the gathered pagans, when Odin attacked. Lucifer threw his arm up, throwing Odin into the wall, impaling him with a shelf that fell with him to the floor. Odin screamed out just before Lucifer stomped on his head, cutting off his cry. Lucifer turned back toward the corner to see Ganesh charging at him. Lucifer thrusted his arm out, sending Ganesh falling back into the wall as his head exploded, painting the walls in his blood. If it hadn't been so gory, Bella would have considered the color beautiful. Even locked inside her head, she could still smell the blood, the scent making her nauseous, even if she couldn't throw up.

Turning back to move to the doors, Lucifer caught a fist as it came falling through the air toward him. Lucifer smirked as the Baron Samedi grunts with his efforts only for Lucifer to jerk his arm, breaking Baron Samedi's before making him explode like Ganesh. Lucifer calmly walked past the bodies, continuing to the ballroom.

Bella watched sickened as Lucifer simply ignore the bodies. She could hear the other pagans through the wall. She hoped they feared what they heard outside the door and ran for their lives. She didn't know if she could stomach watching others die, even if she couldn't control her body, she could still feel the guilt of killing and see the pain and fear caused by this archangel that possessed her body. Sadly the others didn't seem to heed the warning of the screams and remained.

"It's him." She heard a male voice say.

"How?" A woman demanded.

"Does it matter? Shazzam us outta here, would ya?" Another man said, the fear in his voice was clear.

"We can't." A deeper voice replied and I lost hope. I saw as my arms threw open the doors making an entrance.

"Of course you can't. You didn't say 'mother, may I?'. Sam, Dean, good to see you again." Four sets of eyes flashed to the doorway.

"Baldur, don't." An Indian woman said, looking concerned for the dark haired man in a suit.

"You think you own the planet? What gives you the right?" The man demanded as he marched forward angrily. I shrieked as I saw my hand reach out and plunge into the man's chest. I gagged at the sight of the blood and the feeling of it on my hand as I was forced to look him in the eyes.

"No one gives us the right, we take it." My arm was yanked back out and Baldur fell to the floor dead. I became scared as the woman glared at me with tears in her eyes, her arms slowly ignited into flames that crept up to her shoulders. She thrust her arm out at me and I screamed as my body was engulfed in fire. I could feel the burning which thankfully was quickly extinguished and my body mate smiled at the woman. The two other men that had been standing near her were now gone and hopefully safe. The woman stalked toward me, pulling her still flaming arm back to punch me, but instead of making contact my hand came up punching her under the chin and sending her flying across the room.

I moved toward the woman, forced to watch as I was about end her life with a stomp to the head, but I was violently thrown back through the doors and back into the hallway I had come from. I stumbled back to my feet and a new man that hadn't been here before was standing in the middle of the room with a blade in his hand. Lucifer seemed to recognize him and I felt a pang of happiness that didn't belong to me.

"Lucy, I'm home." The new man said. I tried to walk passed him to get to the woman, but he held the blade toward me, stopping me from taking another step and new hope bloomed in me that this nightmare was finally over. Even if he killed me, I could once again be me and not a monster.

"Not this time." The man said and stepped more in between my body and the woman still on the floor. The man backed up, gently picking her up off the ground.

"Guys! Get her out of here." The man called and the two men from before stood up from behind a table. They gently grabbed a hold of her and walked with her to the door and disappeared as the man stood holding me at the end of the blade.

"Over a girl. Gabriel, really? I mean I knew you were slumming, but I hope you didn't catch anything." Gabriel? Gabriel, the archangel? Lucifer's brother?

"Lucifer, you're my brother, even if you're in a hot girl's body. And I love you." I could almost feel a blush even if it wouldn't show.

"The 'hot girl' appreciates that Gabriel." Lucifer laughed and Gabriel looked surprised.

"She's still alive in there." My head nodded.

"Then she has my sincerest apologizes and it just proves you are a great big bag of dicks." I burst out laughing, I couldn't get over an archangel calling his brother a bag of dicks.

"Wait, what did you just say to me?"

" _He just called you a bag of dicks. A person who is disliked by many._ " I offered in explanation, knowing that Lucifer would continue to ignore me.

"Look at yourself! Boo hoo! Daddy was mean to me, so I'm gonna smash all his toys."

"Watch your tone."

"Play the victim all you want. But you and me? We know the truth. Dad loved you best. More than Michael, more than me. Then he brought the new baby home and you couldn't handle it. So this is all just one big temper tantrum. Time to grow up."

"Gabriel, if you're doing this for Michael..."

"Screw him. If he were standing here, I'd shiv his ass too."

"You disloyal-"

"Oh, I'm loyal. To them!"

"Who? These so called Gods?"

"To people, Lucifer. People."

"So you're willing to die, for a pile of cockroaches. Why?"

"Because dad was right. They are better than us."

They are broken. Flawed! Abortions."

" _Hey, hypocrite! You're broken and flawed, too!"_ I yelled, but again was ignored. Why didn't he just kill me, does he not realize that it would shut me up?

"Damn right they're flawed. But a lot of them try. To do better, to forgive. And you should see the Spearmint rhino! I've been riding the pine a long time. But I'm in the game now, and I'm not on your side, or Michael's. I'm on theirs."

"Brother, don't make me do this." Lucifer was genuine with his plea, I could feel the foreign sadness, running through me.

" _Are you crazy? You're willing to kill your brother because he doesn't share your opinion? What kind of family are you?_ " I could feel the surge of aggravation from my comments, but he refused to address me. How could these people think so little of us when they couldn't even solve their own problems without violence and death?

"No one makes us do anything." Gabriel plead. Even without knowing the man, I could see that he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He didn't want to be here, but his brothers had forced him into it.

"I know you think you're doing the right thing, Gabriel. But I know where your heart truly lies." My body spun around to see a second Gabriel sneaking up on us. My arm flew out, grabbing the arm with the blade and reversed the sword to hover over Gabriel's heart. I felt sick watching this.

"Here. Amateur hocus pocus. Don't forget, you learned all your tricks from me, little brother." The sword was forced into Gabriel's chest, followed closely by a bright flash of light as the younger angel died in my arms. I cried in my mental cage, how could a wedge this big be driven between brothers? So far that they would kill each other? I might not know siblings, but I knew family and family was not supposed to kill each other!

The body dropped to the floor, a large scorched image of wings marring the ballroom floor. I swear I could feel a tear run down my face, before it was quickly wiped away and my body marched out of the hotel, leaving the body where it lay, alone on the floor.

I'd never been to Detroit before. In all the traveling I did with my mom, we tended to stay in the south, mostly the south west if we were going to get technical. This city was grungy, and kinda gross, the overflowing amount of demons didn't help that image any either.

"The Winchesters are here." A demon calls. Despite the pang I feel that the men had been caught, I could feel the smile as Lucifer amusedly watched the men being half carried, half shoved into the room through the reflection in the window pane.

"Hey, guys. So nice of you to drop in." Lucifer breathed on the cold window, making it fog up and drew a pitch fork like a young child bored in a car on a long trip.

"Sorry if it's a bit chilly. Most people think I burn hot. It's actually quite the opposite." He finally turned around to look at the men head on.

"Well, I'll alert the media." The shorter of the brothers snarked. I felt saddened amusement at how brave he was. Even in the face of the devil, he refused to be weak, to show fear.

"Help me understand something, guys. I mean, stomping through my front door is… a tad suicidal, don't you think?"

"We're not here to fight you." The taller brother replied stoically.

"No? Then why are you here?" Lucifer asked a bit surprised at the turn of events.

"I want to say "yes"." He said and I'm sure my heart sunk to my feet. I wanted to be free, but never at the expense of someone else.

"Excuse me?"

The taller brother took a deep breath and shut his eyes. Suddenly the two demons holding him in place dropped dead with a bright flash of light. I heard myself chuckle.

"Chock-full of Ovaltine, are we?"

"You heard me. Yes."

"You're serious." Lucifer was surprised, but that didn't stop him from being pleased with the turn of things.

"Look, Judgement Day's a runaway train. We get it now. We just want off." The throwing in the towel, that's what this was? They were giving up? Why fight this far, only to give up?

"Meaning?"

"Deal of the century. I give you a free ride, but when it's all over, I live, he lives, you bring back our parents back-"

"Okay, can we stop the telenovela? I know about the rings, Sam." What rings? What do rings have to do with anything? Did this suddenly become 'Lord of The Rings' and I missed it?

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Boy he was bad at playing confused.

"The Horsemen's rings? The magic keys to my Cage? Ring a bell? Come on, Sam. I've never lied to you. You could at least pay me the same respect. It's okay. I'm not mad. A wrestling match inside your noggin… I like the idea. Just you and me, one round, no tricks. You win, you jump in the hole. I win… Well, then I win. What do you say, Sam? A fiddle of gold against your soul says I'm better than you." Sam looked to his brother, who looked a little freaked out.

"So he knows. Doesn't change anything."

"Sam."

"We don't have any other choice."

"No." Dean pleaded, but Sam turned away from him to look at me.

"Yes." My sight was cut off as Lucifer closed my eyes and the next thing I feel is my body hitting the floor and I go unconscious.

"Dean, she was just a vessel. She's not going to know anything." Someone said as I started to wake up. I pried my eyes open to see three men in what looked to me to be a motel room. The shorter brother, Dean, an older man dressed like dad before he goes fishing and a middle aged guy in a trench coat.

"Bobby's right, Dean. I'd be surprised if she even remembers anything." I tried moving, but found that I was tied to a chair. I groaned as the ropes rubbed against my arms. The three men turned to look at me.

"Good you're awake." Dean said and got up from where he'd been sitting on the edge of the far bed.

"Where am I?" I asked. My voice was raspy as I realized how dry my throat was.

"Doesn't matter. Who the hell are you?" He asked as he crouched down in front of me, making sure I could see the gun he held in his hand.

"Bella." I started, looking into his eyes.

"You're not going to need that." I said as I eyed the gun.

"Really?" Dean asked, cocking an eyebrow. I nodded slowly and sat back in the chair.

"I'll tell you whatever you want to know." Dean nodded and tucked the gun into the back of his pants.

"Do you know the date?" The older man, Bobby, asked. I thought about it for a second, before shaking my head.

"Nope. Haven't seen a calendar in a while. Can I have some water?" I asked. Bobby nodded and moved toward the motel room's mini fridge.

"Do you remember anything of the last few months?" The middle aged man asked as Bobby came back with a water bottle and allowed me to take a drink.

"Thank you." I said and he nodded before I looked to the other man.

"You mean, do I remember the freak that took over my body, yeah, I remember." I said. He and Bobby looked surprised while Dean smirked.

"What possessed you to say 'yes' to the devil?" Dean sneered.

"It didn't exactly go down like that mister smartass." I retorted and he came up short.

"How could Lucifer have taken over your body if you didn't say 'yes'. For an angel to possess a human, the human must say 'yes'."

"Well apparently, the devil doesn't understand sarcasm." I spat at the man and he glares at me while Bobby and Dean snorted.

"Then what exactly happened?" Bobby asked as he took a seat on the bed closest to me.

"I'm a bartender in Seattle. I was walking to my car when this guy appears in front of me, spouting this stuff about God, destiny, the apocalypse. I thought he was crazy. Then he tells me that he needs me to say 'yes' to him using my body till his battle vessel is ready. I laughed at him. My exact words were 'yeah, sure' and the next thing I know, the crazy guy falls to the ground and something was taking over my body, locking me in my own head, making me watch as he killed people and made plans for the end of the world." The men stayed quiet after I'd finished. I looked to the ceiling as I felt the tears falling down my face. I heard the snap of a pocket knife and closed my eyes in preparation of it cutting my throat, but was surprised when it cut the zip ties that were holding my wrists in place. I looked at Dean surprised.

"You're not going to kill me?" I asked and he shook his head.

"What are Lucifer's plans, where's the final showdown?" I shook my head, sadly.

"He could hide his thoughts from me. I only know the plans that he told you about and I remember him saying something about it ending where it all began. I don't know anything else." Dean nodded.

"There somewhere we can take you? A way to get home?" I shook my head as I looked at Bobby.

"Can I ask for one thing?"

"You can ask." Bobby said and I took a deep breath as I felt more tears coming to the surface.

"Lucifer called me temporary, till his battle vessel was ready. We all know what happens during a fight, there's damage. I know he'll come for me again, if he wins and there's nowhere I can hide that he won't find me. I would like to write a letter to my dad to give him some peace and I want you to kill me, make sure he can't bring me back." The tears fell as I stared at my lap. I looked at the men in the room. Dean and Bobby seemed shocked by my request, but not the man in the trench coat. He nodded and I let out a relieved breath, letting my shoulders sag.

"Thank you."

Bobby got me some paper, a pen and an envelope. The men talked quietly on the other side of the room as I sat at the small desk the motel provided.

 _Dad, I can't explain what's happened in the last few months and even if I could, I know you wouldn't believe me. I'm sorry things happened this way, that I wasn't a better daughter, that I didn't spend more time with you. You're the best dad a girl could ask for. In the last few months some things have happened that changed everything for me. It's worse than when the Cullens left, this time I can't go on. I'm sorry. I can't say that enough. I've been forced to do some truly despicable things and if I go on, I'll be forced to do more. I know you would be disgusted if you ever found out what I've done and that makes what I'm about to do more bearable. I love you, dad, don't forget that. Tell Jake that he was a great friend and I'll truly miss him. Tell mom that I'm glad she met Phil and that he'll take care of her. Dad, I don't know what else to say. I love you_ _and I'm sorry._

 _Forgive me,_

 _Bella_

I wiped the tears from the page and away from eyes before folding the paper and putting it in the envelope. I addressed it to dad and sealed it shut. I sniffed back more tears as I stood and gave the letter to Dean, who was standing closer to me. He looked at the letter with pain in his eyes. He'd probably never had to do anything like this.

"Cas, we can't do this. There has to be something that can be done, you're an angel for God's sake!" Dean said and Bobby looked at him, I could see a pain in his eyes, too, but I couldn't understand how these men cared so much. It's not like they knew me, I was a stranger to them.

"Can't you do what you did for Sam and I. Carve that sigil into her ribs!" Cas shook his head slowly as he looked at Dean.

"The sigil won't help her, Dean. Lucifer's already used her as a vessel. He'll always be able to find her. Dean glared angrily at Cas before storming out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Bobby sighed.

"I'm going to go after him. I'll make sure your father gets that letter." Bobby said and clasped his hand on my shoulder. I nodded.

"Thank you." I watched Bobby leave and looked to the angel. A question I hadn't thought of in a long time suddenly popped into my head.

"Is there truly a heaven?" I asked. Cas tilted his head slightly as he looked at me.

"Yes, Bella, there's a heaven."

"Do I get to go there?" I asked quietly, trying to suppress the hope I felt.

"I don't know. I can only promise that you won't go to hell." I nodded and wiped the tears away again.

"How do you want to do this?" I asked. Cas stepped forward and pressed two fingers to my forehead. A bright light flashed and suddenly we were standing in the middle of a meadow. I took a deep breath, bracing myself.

"I'll need to make sure none of you remains." Cas said and I nodded, closing my eyes as Cas touched my head again. This time there was no light, I felt nothing different, only the noises around me changed. I slowly opened my eyes to see the old pond dad took me to when he tried to teach me how to fish.

"Come on, Bella." A much younger version of Charlie walked up behind me, placing his hand on my shoulder to guide me to the dock.

"Here's your pole." Dad handed me the bright pink pole he had bought me, a worm already on the end. I smiled at him and walked with him to the pond. If this was heaven, then it's was fine by me.


	2. Part 2

**A/N: I cave. A few of you asked for a continuation and it got me thinking, so you win. Here is a part two for The Vessel. Hope you like it as much as the first part.**

 **~Miss. E. Thompson**

Bella's been missing for months. I've plastered fliers all over Forks and Seattle and anywhere else in the state of Washington that was willing to post the flier for me. There was no explanation to how she disappeared. Surveillance had caught her leaving work like usual, she locked up the door and headed toward the alley way that went around to the parking lot, after that she disappeared off camera. Video told us she never made it to the other end of the alleyway where another camera would have picked her up. Somehow she disappeared in that alley way and a dead body was left. A man that had been off the radar for years, the body was so bad it was like the man had been boiled from the inside. Nothing made sense.

All we knew was Bella went into that alley and only a male's body came out. Every officer and detective that worked the case was of confounded, they had no idea what to do and the case had quickly gone cold. There had been spikes of hope every once and a well. A finger print close to Bella's would show up at a crime scene or someone would say they caught a glimpse of her, but the reports were scattered across the country with no consistency, there was no way she could be involved in any of it.

I cracked open another can of vitamin R as I slouched in the chair. This is what I had been reduced to. Trapped in this house with all my memories of her as I drank myself to death. I'd retired from being the Chief of Police a few weeks after Bella had gone missing, committing myself to finding her, but as the case got colder and colder, it got harder to pull myself out of bed in the morning and put one foot in front of the other. Now I was resigned to know that I was never going to see my little girl again, she was gone and if I had my way, I would be too.

Billy and Sue used to come around and try to make me do things to keep me from burying myself in a hole, but they had even given up and I couldn't find it in myself to care. Digging myself deeper and deeper into a hole I couldn't possibly climb out of.

I could faintly hear a motor pull up in front of the house, but I didn't move to check it out. Was probably just someone parking there while they went to one of the neighbor's houses. That idea fell through when I heard someone banging on the door. I groaned, throwing my head back against the head rest of the chair before hauling my ass up to see who was bothering to knock on the door. Everyone in town knew I wasn't taking visitors.

I stumbled my way to the door in the dark, not bothering to turn on the light. Throwing open the door I was surprised to see two men standing on the other side. Both were wearing suits, one was young and tall while the other was older and bald on top. Behind them was an old black car, something that I used to see more often when I was a kid.

"Whaddaya want?" I grumbled, leaning against the door for support. They both dug in their pockets and pulled out wallet looking things to flash FBI badges.

"Agents Wilson and Criss. Sir, we came to talk to you about your daughter, Bella." I felt the air leave me and I clung to the door a little harder.

"Whoa!" The taller guy yelled and grabbed me by my arm to steady me.

"Let's get you in a chair." He grumbled and yanked me toward the kitchen while the other walked in behind him and shut the door. I was plopped into a chair and the older agent, Wilson, sat down across from me.

"What about Bella?" I asked. It didn't matter the amount of booze I'd guzzled today, I suddenly felt sober for the first time in months.

"Agent Criss and I were working a case in Detroit a week or so ago. There was an explosion in a warehouse and I'm sorry to say that we believe your daughter was inside when it happened.

"An explosion? What was my little girl doing in Detroit? She hated the cold, anything farther north than California and she didn't want to go. I was surprised when she came to live with me and stayed here as long as she did." I knew I was ramblin' and I was avoiding the statement they had made.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Swan, but we traced your daughter back to a motel room and we found this inside." Agent Wilson handed me an envelope. It was thin and with Bella's handwriting on the front. I could feel the tears in the back of my eyes, I refused to let them fall. I ripped open the envelope and pulled out a thin sheet of cheap motel paper. Before I even unfolded the paper I could see the watermarks to tell me she was crying when she wrote this. The page was filled with her handwriting and the paper shook a little as I tried to read.

 _Dad, I can't explain what's happened in the last few months and even if I could, I know you wouldn't believe me. I'm sorry things happened this way, that I wasn't a better daughter, that I didn't spend more time with you. You're the best dad a girl could ask for. In the last few months some things have happened that changed everything for me. It's worse than when the Cullens left, this time I can't go on. I'm sorry. I can't say that enough. I've been forced to do some truly despicable things and if I go on, I'll be forced to do more. I know you would be disgusted if you ever found out what I've done and that makes what I'm about to do more bearable. I love you, dad, don't forget that. Tell Jake that he was a great friend and I'll truly miss him. Tell mom that I'm glad she met Phil and that he'll take care of her. Dad, I don't know what else to say. I love you_ _and_ _I'm sorry._

 _Forgive me,_

 _Bella_

I let out a sob as I finished reading. She thought she couldn't come home, she died with regret and that made everything worse. But beyond that, admitting that Bella was dead, my baby girl's gone forever was more than I could take.

"Do…. Do you know what she meant when she wrote 'what's happened in the last few months'? Bella knew I would always listen to her and she thought I wouldn't believe her." I looked to Agent Wilson for answers, but I could see he didn't have any for me before he even opened his mouth.

"I'm truly sorry, Mr. Swan, but we know very little about your daughter or what happened during the time she was missing. If you don't mind, Mr. Swan, would you tell us about her, it could help us to better piece together what went on, to know a little about her personality." I wiped at the tears and cleared my throat. I stood up on wobbly legs and motioned for the agents to follow me into the living room.

"Bella's always been a special girl." I said and walked to the far wall and pulled some pictures out of a desk drawer. I turned back to the agents and sat down in my chair, flipping off the TV. From my chair you could see the line of pictures that started when Bella was just a few hours old to a picture Angela had taken of her a few months before she disappeared.

"Her mom and I separated when she was only a couple months old. I only got to see her for a couple weeks during the year. She was always bright. Sharp as a tack, I'd like to say she got that from me, but I honestly haven't a clue where it truly came from. You couldn't get anything past this girl. She was so observant, she could pick up the slightest change in emotion during a conversation and veer the conversation away from whatever had caused it. She didn't much like attention to be all on her. She liked to mostly be in the background when it came to situations.

She only moved here to Washington for an extended amount of time when she was seventeen. Her mom had just got remarried and she felt like the third wheel, plus she said it gave her an opportunity to come stay with her old man. Renee was always a bit scatterbrained and I think Bella grounded her a little. Bella was very responsible, even when she was little. She'd remind Renee that she needed to pay the bills, to get groceries, that someone's birthday was coming up or an anniversary." I held out the picture of Bella and I when she was six years old. Billy had taken her shopping while she was staying during the summer and he'd bought her a fishing pole, it was bright pink. The picture was her sitting on my lap with her new pole in hand and a wide grin on her face.

"That was her first fishing pole. A friend of mine had taken her shopping with him and his kids. She came running in the house with that pole as soon as the truck was in park. A grin the size of Texas on her face as she held it out to me. 'Daddy, look what I got! It's a pole just like yours, now I can go fishing, too!' She wasn't much for fishing, but she went with me without fuss, put her line in the water even though she didn't expect to catch anything." Agent Wilson gave a small smile and passed the picture to Agent Criss. I wiped the tears away from my face again before I took the picture back and placed it behind the other picture.

"She was an amazing cook, too." I pulled out the picture of Bella, she was around ten, standing on a chair to see the top of the stove to cook without assistance.

"Neither Renee or I were good in the kitchen, but Bella, she taught herself everything she knew. She cooked better than any cook in any restaurant I've been to. And read, she loved to read. And not just those novels and picture books, but those old classics and plays. There's this one book she's got, I've bought it for her a good three times because she would read it over and over again and beat the binding into submission." I took a deep breath and leaned back in my chair.

"Some of that changed when she met that boy though. That Cullen boy was no good. Sure he treated her good enough, but she suddenly needed him for everything, it was almost like she clung to him like a life line. She jumped into first love feet first, never expecting it end. And he when he left, he broke her to pieces, ripped away her self-esteem and stomped it into the mud. It took her months to even start to recover, she was so deep in a depression that I thought I was going to have to put her in one of those mental hospitals. But she finally came around and pulled herself together, got some friends and threw herself into her school work. She got scholarships from, I like it was three of those Ivy League schools. She turned them all down to take a full ride to college in Seattle so she could stay close to home, closer to me." I cleared my throat again and wiped away some tears.

"Bella was always good with kids and she was going to be a teacher, be an English teacher so she could make a living doing what she loved to do. But I guess she'll never get the chance to do that now." The tears were pouring down my face without any sign that they would stop any time soon. The pain had taken hold, settling into the middle of my chest, making my heart throb as I thought about her. I reached over to the table and grabbed my beer that I had discarded when the agents had gotten here. I didn't know what I was going to do now that I knew that Bella was gone. Drinking myself to death would take too long, it would be years before I would get to see my little girl again and that made the pain in my chest even worse. Having it confirmed that Bella was no longer even on the same plane as me. She was gone and yet, I was still here and suffering and waiting for something to take me out.

"Like we said earlier Mr. Swan. We're deeply sorry for your loss." I nodded and hauled myself up from my chair again.

"Thank you, for coming by to tell me." I managed out and walked the two men to the door. It had started to rain outside and the temperature had dropped a good ten degrees since they had arrived. The two men nodded and headed out into the rain while I shut the door behind them. I turned around and headed back into the living room and picked up my pistol. There was nothing left for me here and there was no sense in sticking around, there wasn't anyone that would really miss me.

I place a single round in the gun and held it under my chin as I clicked off the safety. I felt a stray tear run down my face as I closed my eyes. I could see Bella behind my eyelids, could see her smiling. I held on to the image as I braced myself and pulled the trigger.

The last thing I heard was the _bang_ as the shot rang out and there was pain for a split second before I could feel myself falling. It was just quiet and black for a minute or two before a sound came to my ears, a gurgling sound that I faintly remembered. I opened my eyes to see the pale blue walls of Bella's room, when I looked down I could see baby Bella laying her crib. Her wide eyes staring up at me, her fingers in her mouth, muffling the sound of her trying to talk. I smiled and slowly bent down to pick her up. In that moment I felt true happiness.


End file.
